Why is this SO light bodied?

[macabra11]

My very first beer I ever brewed was an extract Mac & Jacks African Amber clone from BYO magazine. It didn't turn out anything like Mac & Jacks, but wasn't bad beer either.
Two weeks ago I wanted to try brewing it again, but do it all grain this time. So I pulled out the recipe from BYO again (found here https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f12/mac-jack-amber-recipe-needed-33281/) and followed it TO A TEE! I hit my temps ok, but I did get terrible efficiency 54% ugh (normally I get 70-73%). Two weeks of fermentation it has tapped out and is at 1.016, but when I tasted the sample it was REALLLLLLY light in body. I mean, miller lite kinda light body! It has the nice malty hoppy flavor of M&Js, but just realllly reallllllly light body. When we made it, we also remarked at how light the color was too.
Why would this be like this? Fermentation temps were between 62-65º for the first 5-6 days, then I let it run up to 70º to finish out.

P.S.And I am SURE we got the right grains.

 

[Synovia]

It isn't bottled yet, is it? CO2 concentrations can affect perceived mouthfeel.


IE, Its green.

 

[Yooper]

That, and if you missed your target OG, you have a less malty beer than planned.

 

[david_42]

With an efficiency of 54% vs a design efficiency of 70-73%, you started with 25% less malt.

 

[Homercidal]

I'd check the crush on that. Might have been crushed too coarse.

Could be the design of the MLT. What type of equipment did you use to mash in? Also volume of water has an impact. What was the ratio of water to grain?

I would recommend picking up some Dry Malt Extract for the next AG batch. That way, if you miss low again, you can at least get the gravity up before fermentation.

 

[macabra11]

I think the efficiency had to do with the crush. I forgot to check the crusher at the LHBS for this beer. When we check it, we get 70-73% but we just forgot that time.
My system is a 10 gal Igloo cooler with SS braid. Double batch sparge. I struck with 3.8 gal water, then did a double batch sparge of 3.4 gal each sparge.

Hopefully it "fills out" after being bottled.

 

[david_42]

You might want to add some maltodextrine before bottling.

 

[macabra11]

What does maltodextrine do?

 

[brrman]

adds body and mouthfeel - its a non-fermentable sugar that contributes no taste.

 

[macabra11]

So will it make my beer sweeter??? I like the flavor the way it is, I just want more body.
How much would you put in at bottling and does it need to be boiled and dissolved in water first? Is there a "How to use Maltodextrin For Dummies" guide?

 

[brrman]

no no - like I said, maltodextrine "has no flavor". It is not sweet, just adds a kind of thickness or heaviness to the mouthfeel. Not all sugars are sweet to taste.

I always use it in the boil on beers that I want a fuller body (usually about 6-8 oz)... Not sure but I guess you could boil up some with water, cool and add it to your bottle bucket and bottling time.

 

[humann_brewing]

not hitting the numbers will certainly give a different flavor profile. I have a post in the link you posted when I brewed the clone from BYO, I over shot the gravity by 12 points, this was back when i first did all grains and didn't realized that BYO recipes were based off 65%. It didn't taste like an exact clone but what I expected for being that far off on the gravity and it was not a session beer at 6.7% either

 

[macabra11]

I suppose I could boil 6 oz with my priming sugar before adding to the bottling bucket.

 

[malkore]

malto-dextrine is something like 20 times LESS sweet than table sugar. used in proper quantities it shouldn't alter sweetness or bitterness of the beer.